Weah Withdraws Gibson as MOJ Nominee

Cllr. Charles Gibson (middle) has been dropped from the Justice Ministry nomination

Will other ‘questionable characters’ follow suit?

President George Manneh Weah has with immediate effect withdrawn the nomination of Cllr. Charles Gibson, as Justice Minister-designate.

According to an Executive Mansion release, the decision was made on Feb 7, in an official communication to the Senate Pro-Temp, Hon. Albert Chie, and Justice Minister-designate Cllr. Charles Gibson. The question now lingering on the minds of the public is whether other nominees with questionable characters will follow suit.

It can be recalled that President Weah’s nomination of Cllr. Charles Gibson to serve as Justice Minister ignited a virtual firestorm against his confirmation since the revelation of his unwholesome and unethical behavior which led to the suspension of his license by the Supreme Court.

A Lebanese businessman Anwar Saoud had filed a complaint against Cllr. Gibson before the Supreme Court alleging that Cllr. Gibson had appropriated to his own use monies he had collected on behalf of his client, Anwar Saoud.

The Supreme Court, having sat on the matter and concluded that Cllr. Gibson had acted unethically suspended his license and ordered him to refund his client’s money. The mandate of the Supreme Court however went unheeded by Cllr. Gibson until a week before his name surfaced as a nominee for the post of Justice Minister.

Apparently sensing that his non compliance with the mandate of the Court would have imperiled his confirmation for the post, Cllr. Gibson hurriedly restituted his client’s money and prayed the Court for the lifting of its ban on his legal practice.

When quizzed by the Court why it took him so long to comply with its mandate, the embattled Cllr. responded that he was broke, not having earned income since his license was revoked by the Court. He furthered that he had to rally support from his friends in order to raise the money put at US$25,400.

But an anxious public including media institutions, apparently edged on by President Weah’s publicly declared non tolerance to corruption, continued to step up calls for Cllr. Gibson’s rejection by the Liberian Senate.

His (Cllr. Gibson) call for the dissolution of national integrity institutions such as the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) etc, evoked a strong backlash with a particularly scathing reaction coming from the LACC.

The Daily Observer, taking up the issue in its Monday, Feb 5, 2018 editorial, questioned Cllr. Gibson on what moral grounds was he accepting his appointment as Justice Minister. The Daily Observer then called on him to decline his appointment and accord President Weah the opportunity to name a more reputable individual to head that Ministry.

The Observer further argued and warned that confirming Cllr. Gibson would have sent a wrong message which would have been regretted.

Meanwhile news reports that Cllr. Gibson’s nomination has been withdrawn by President Weah and a new Justice Minister appointed appear to suggest that President Weah may not have been at all impervious to public concerns about integrity as wrongly assumed in many quarters, a highly placed source said.

In a related development, there is growing public concern about the likely confirmation of former representative Moses Y. Kollie’s nomination as Labor Minister owing to his record as a perpetrator of gross human rights abuse, according to eyewitness accounts to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report.

According to eyewitness accounts, the Labor Minister designate, Moses Kollie was a notorious and feared commander of the NPFL during the country’s civil war. He is alleged to have ordered men under his command to strip a woman naked and apply Baboon Koto to her private parts while tied up under the hot sun.

The incident is said to have taken place in the town of Kpaiyea located near the Liberia-Guinea border in Lofa County. The woman in question according to eyewitness accounts to the TRC was said to have been “captured” in Grand Bassa County and taken to Lofa as a sex slave.

She was ordered tortured after being accused of infidelity by commander Kollie. Her co-accused, a bodyguard to Kollie, was said to have fled across the border into Guinea to escape arrest and possible death.

At this stage, it remains unclear whether the Senate will confirm him or whether President Weah is going to withdraw his nomination based on the revelation about his role during the civil war. But pundits appear convinced that the Senate will go ahead and confirm the Labor Minister designate because as a local human rights advocate put it “Kollie will pass the Senate test because he has money”. He did not comment further.

Meanwhile President Weah has received plaudits for his withdrawal of Cllr. Gibson’s nomination. In a telephone chat with the editor, a local Lebanese businessman, name withheld, has commended President Weah for what he called a bold and unprecedented step taken by President Weah’s withdrawal of Cllr. Gibson’s nomination. “Such a thing never happened during President Sirleaf’s time,” the businessman noted.

7 COMMENTS

Dear Sirs/Madams:
As Jesus said to the people at the well who had come to stoned the lady at the well for adultery, he asked them, who will cast the first stone? none did because of them one way or the other have their hand “dirty” in sins.
So how many serving in public offices are “clean” ? Not being caught with hands in the cookies jar does not means you are clean. I hope Cllr. Gibson will not be the only example, others with integrity problems will not serve in this Gov’t.
Thanks

Flomo, this has nothing to do with Jesus’ parable. The idea that Liberians for too long have turned a blind eye to accountability is brewing impunity. It has to start from somewhere. Lawlessness in our country has got to stop for Liberians to make progress. If he is sanctioned by the Supreme Court for taking the law into his own hands, on what moral grounds will he stand to prosecute lawbreakers.

Flomo,
Your point is taken. There are many people who “cannot cast a stone” because they listen to the word of God. Conversely, there are some who foolishly “cast a stone” even though they know darn well that there are tons of transgressions in their backyards. Ironically, there are others who will not “cast a stone” because they do not want to be exposed or listen to the word of God.

The Sanhedrins during Jesus’s time on earth were the real hypocrites. During the time of Christ, the Sanhedrins comprised 69 educated men, the 70th guy on the council was the called the chief priest, a derivative of the tribe of Levi. The chief priest who conducted the mock trial during the crucifixion process of Jesus, was called Joseph Caiphas.

The Sanhedrins also comprised two main groups of intellectuals, namely, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Of course there were Scribes as well. The Sadducees did not believe in life after death. But the Pharisees believed in life after death. The chief priest, Joseph Caiphas was a Sadducee. Nicodemus, the gentleman who came to Jesus at night time, was a Pharisee.
The council of Sanhedrin was very, very conservative! There were no women admitted on the council. Because of their philosophical differences, they were constantly at odds with one another. Example, when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, he told Jesus this: “We know”…. Nicodemus used the plural pronoun “we” instead of “I”, singular pronoun, to acknowledge the authenticity of Jesus. (Read the synoptic gospel of St. John, not John the Baptist chapter 3)

One of the main characters in this story is Mary Magdalene. The name “Magdalene” was not her dad’s last name, neither was it her boyfriend’s name. So why is she called Mary Magdalene? The incident occurred in a city in Palestine called Magdala! A female she was, hence, Magdalene.

Some members of the Sanhedrin and a bunch of gawkers confronted Jesus while this beautiful woman was being dragged toward Jesus. They asked…”What say you Rabbi, are we wrong to stone this woman to death”? The whole story is two-fold: First, to entrap Jesus and second, to stone Marriam (Mary in English) to death.

If Jesus had said, “stone her to death”. The people would have said, “He’s not the son of God He purports to be”. If Jesus had said, “oh don’t stone her to death”., the people would have said, “He defiles the Mosaic law”. The Bible tells us that Jesus was troubled by this. Jesus wrote something in the dirt. No one knows exactly what He wrote in the dirt. But, it was written as a fulfillment of an old Testament prophecy, Jeremiah 17:13.

Now, Jesus finally had His turn to speak….
He wisely asked, “Who amongst you has never, ever sinned? If there is one amongst you who has not sinned, he must be the first to cast a stone to kill her”. Guess what? They became disgusted and walked away. They heard the word of Jesus.

Back in Liberia……
There are people in the legislature, (probably not all of them) who are cor…..rupt to the bone. The very corrupt amongst us in the legislature are still holding on to their stones. They have no regard for the word of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As long as they refuse to drop their rocks (their wicked, corrupt ways) Liberians will continue to experience hardship.
More to be said. Out of time. Typed on my phone.

This is my proposal to ease corruption practices in Liberia……whenever someone’s hand is caught in the cookies jar or piggy bank in Liberia, that person should be banned for life from working with the Government of Liberia. This law should apply to everyone from the Office sweeper to the president. And the law should cover the three branches of government, Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.

Also, if anyone is caught in corruption, their names should be published in all the daily newspapers of Liberia and put in a database at the national archives and be given a criminal record after the person has been persecuted and found guilty of such crime. The minimum penalty for corrupt practices should be no less than 20 years in prison with restitution.

The assets of the corrupt person should be sold at market value and funds paid to the government’s coffers. Everyone who is caught in corruption should be relived of their jobs in government pending persecution. If the person is not found guilty, they should still be sacked from their jobs and this should be applied both in government and in the private sector. If Liberians are serious to curb corruption, these measures should be taken and trust me, things would change.

Is it true that Liberian Senators are flogging Journalists? Is it true that River Cess County is rejecting President George Weah Superintendent appointed ? Is it true that Charles Gibson took something from somebody falsely?

Luke,
You have a good proposal. The problem is
that corruption is ingrined in the blood veins and bones of most politicians. To root out corruption in the “lives” of some politicians is the equivalent of pulling a tooth without being anesthetized.

Let’s hope that the new guy on the block, Mr. Weah, will de-accelerate the speed of corruption in Liberia. One of the good things about Weah that’s not talked about is that he is economically well off. Because of that, he will not embezzle our country’s meager resources. I am afraid that “some” of his close people could manipulate him into orbit.
He needs prayer! God can really turn Liberia around under Weah’s leadership.

Yes, I agree with you. If a recalcitrant politician or whether a present or former government official has been found to have abused his or her office by engaging into graft, there should be a consequence. A jail term, a return of the stolen loot, a house arrest, a public spanking by university students or sending them into exile permanently will do for me.

Luke,
You have a good proposal. The problem is
that corruption is ingrined in the blood veins and bones of most politicians. To root out corruption in the “lives” of some politicians is the equivalent of pulling a tooth without being anesthetized.

Let’s hope that the new guy on the block, Mr. Weah, will de-accelerate the speed of corruption in Liberia. One of the good things about Weah that’s not talked about is that he is economically well off. Because of that, he will not embezzle our country’s meager resources. I am afraid that “some” of his close people could manipulate him into orbit.
He needs prayer! God can really turn Liberia around under Weah’s leadership.

Yes, I agree with you. If a recalcitrant politician or whether a present or former government official has been found to have abused his or her office by engaging into graft, there should be a consequence. A jail term, a return of the stolen loot, a house arrest, a public spanking by university students or sending them into exile permanently will do for me.

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